Research

Access to safe and reliable drinking water is essential for well-being, yet in many rural settings, water infrastructure is frequently unreliable. This paper examines the household-level consequences of well failure using a novel measure of predicted well functionality in Ethiopia. Leveraging a machine learning model trained on hydro-environmental variables, I construct an exogenous proxy for well failures and link it to detailed household survey data. I document a series of behavioral responses to those water access disruptions. Households adjust by switching away from groundwater toward more proximate, but potentially lower-quality sources such as surface water. Consistent with this shift, reported time spent collecting water declines, especially among adults. However, this reduction masks a reallocation of responsibility: more children are mobilized to fetch water, and this increased burden has downstream effects. Children in affected households are significantly more likely to miss school and are increasingly engaged in farming and casual work. These findings reveal the cascading effects of water access disruptions on household labor dynamics and children's time use, underscoring how environmental shocks can shape human capital accumulation and economic behavior.

The number of people without access to water is rising across Sub-Saharan Africa, a challenge further exacerbated by climate change. Frequent droughts highlight the importance of groundwater, often a more reliable water source. As a result, access to wells tapping into groundwater may play a significant role in shaping settlement patterns. This paper investigates whether the presence of wells can act as a pull factor, attracting people to settle nearby. To address this question, I combine information on the location and construction dates of water points across Sub-Saharan Africa with population and nightlight data. It allows me to assess whether well construction leads to increased settlement in their vicinity using a difference-in-differences framework that accounts for staggered adoption.

This article contributes to the debate on climate change and migration, which often overlooks alternative in situ adaptation mechanisms. Focusing on 13 West African countries, we examine how irrigation affects migration intentions following droughts. Combining cross-country Gallup World Poll surveys with geo-referenced data on drought intensity and recent machine learning data on irrigation coverage, we find that irrigation can significantly reduce rural households' migration intentions. This effect is particularly strong in arid regions. The effect likely operates through agricultural livelihoods, as it disappears when urban households are included. Our results are robust to a variety of specifications, including the inclusion of controls for conflict, remittances, and international aid, as well as the use of alternative measures of drought and irrigation. These results highlight the importance of considering alternative adaptation mechanisms in the climate-migration nexus.